Introduction: What is Border Renaissance?

Abstract

This issue investigates the return to borders, gauging the impact of this recent renaissance of borders in political and media discourses and cultural representations of borders and borderlands. The geographical focus of the individual papers lies primarily on Europe with brief references to North America and Asia. Zooming in on questions of recent border conflicts, tensions, and struggles, on the one hand, and questions of identity, language practices, and forms of belonging, on the other, the essays highlight border rebirth and revival, also presenting new research on recent developments in territorial/spatial and cultural border studies. Coming from a wide variety of disciplines, such as geography, cultural studies, literature, linguistics, and political sciences, the authors explore the renewed interest in borders and the many instances of borderizations.